Mello, Change the World
by The Madness Behind
Summary: What if Rem gave the Death Note, not to Higuchi, but to another highly competitive and ambitious person: Mello.
1. Sleep Deprivation

In a clearing in a small forest in Japan, a young man and two creatures that only he could see were having a meeting, of sorts.

Yagami Raito handed Rem the Death Note. "I relinquish my ownership of this notebook," he said. "Now ownership of this notebook returns to Rem, right?"

Rem nodded. "That's right. You're being persistent," she told Raito.

"Then give that notebook to Ryuk," Raito said.

Rem looked at Ryuk. "That's fine with me," she said, and then handed Ryuk the Death Note.

"Now Ryuk owns the notebook," Raito said. "Ryuk, drop that notebook right here, on human ground." He pointed at the ground in front of him.

"That's all good," Ryuk said. He dropped the notebook in front of Raito, who picked it up.

"Now I am the owner of this note," Raito said as he held up the Death Note.

Ryuk looked mildly confused. "Hey now," he said, "doing that didn't change anything."

"Yeah, I guess not," said Raito. "But there will definitely come a time when I can use this." For a moment, Rem saw that weird look in Raito's eyes that he got whenever he had some sort of plan. He held up the other Death Note, which he was holding with a cloth. "Now for the first notebook I found. This time I'll return it to you, Ryuk, and then hand it to Rem."

Ryuk took the Death Note from Raito and handed it to Rem. "Here you go," he said.

Rem took the notebook from him.

"Rem," Raito said, "find someone in a position of power with strong ambitions, and give him that notebook. If you do that, Misa will definitely be cleared. If she isn't, then you can kill me. How about it?"

"Yagami Raito," said Rem, "what are you planning?"

"Believe in me, for Misa's sake," Raito said.

Rem didn't like or trust Raito at all, but for Misa's sake, she would do it.

"I understand," she said. "If it will help Misa, I will do as you say."

Rem spread her wings, and in a moment she was off, carrying the Death Note under her arm.

_Someone ambitious_.

She knew exactly who to give it to.

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"God damnit Mello, are you _ever_ going to finish studying?!"

"Matt, for the last time…just because _you_ don't give a damn about how _your_ grades come out…"

"You've been studying for three fucking days now! At least _sleep_!"

Mello slammed his textbook shut and spun around in his swivel chair to face Matt. "Matt," he said quietly, grinding his teeth together in annoyance, "I'm not losing to Near this time. I have told you this repeatedly." He picked up the half-devoured bar of chocolate that was resting next to his notes and bit off one of the little squares. "And, honestly, I can't sleep if I know Near's going to do better than me _again_."

Matt groaned and let himself fall backwards onto his bed. "You're fucking insane, dude," he said.

"Mmmhmm."

"I'm going to go eat," Matt sighed. "Because, unlike you, I can't live off of a combination of chocolate and undying hatred of Near."

"Mmhmm. Have fun." Mello casually leaned to the side to avoid the hairbrush that Matt threw in his direction before leaving.

He had been preparing for this exam for a long time, and he'd be damned if Matt or anybody else was going to fuck up his chances of doing better than Near. Or, rather, it would be the person who got in his way that would be royally fucked. Mello allowed himself a grin. Finally, he would beat Near.

Either that, or he would go into another depression, announce that his life was over, spend a day or so alternating between sleeping and griping about how much everything sucked, and finally re-appear once Matt went out and bought him some chocolate.

And it would begin all over again. Near would win, and Mello would study harder. But no matter what Mello did, no matter how hard he worked, there was always a maddening ½ to ¼ point difference between his and Near's scores – and Near's were always higher.

God, he wished Near would just die. The little white sack of flour just _sat_ there and didn't even _try_, and still he got perfect marks. It wasn't fair! Oh, how Mello would have loved to just wrap his hands around that boy's neck and _squeeze_…

_THUMP._

Mello, being the high-strung person that he was, jumped a mile and spun around so fast that he probably would have been a blur to anyone watching. But there was no one there. Nothing had moved. Mello slowly turned back to his desk, still watching warily over his shoulder.

Maybe, he thought, just maybe, he should get some sleep. It was possible that he was sleep deprived – he'd experienced sleep deprivation before, and it was a similar feeling.

But, he reasoned (using his own special brand of 'reasoning'), it was also possible that Near had managed to slip some kind of hallucination-inducing drug into his coffee that morning. Mello wouldn't have put it past the sneaky little bastard.

Hallucinations or no hallucinations, he had to ace that test. Mello looked down at his desk.

Hang on.

He didn't remember _that_ being there before.

Mello picked up the black notebook that had appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, on the left side of his desk. The first thing he noticed was the cover. It read, in silver letters:

**Death Note**

Was this Matt's?

It had to be, because Mello didn't remember it.

And, of course, what was Matt's stuff was Mello's stuff, _especially_ Matt's personal stuff, so Mello flipped it open.

**How to Use It**

**1. The human whose name is written in the note shall die.**

**2. The note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.**

**3. If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen.**

**4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.**

…Was this a fuckin' joke?

Mello wondered if Matt had picked this up from an online novelty site. It disturbed him, though, that someone would go through this sort of trouble to make a joke about killing people via heart attacks – as if Kira was funny.

Some people in this world were just _sick_.

He needed sleep. He'd ask Matt about it later, and probably yell at him for being so callous towards L's predicament. Therefore, Mello needed to rest, since when he yelled, it usually lasted for a long period of time.

Mello placed the notebook back down on his desk, stood up, yawned widely, and collapsed onto his bed. He didn't bother to undress; it was already noon anyway. Dragging himself over to his pillow, Mello put his head on it, reconsidered his choice to stop studying, and promptly fell asleep before he could even will himself to sit back up.

He didn't notice the large, ugly creature that was watching him from the other side of the room.


	2. Distractions

"Mel, wake up!"

"Matt…whatthefuckdoyouwant…"

Mello opened his eyes a little and found his gamer friend hovering next to his bed. "Goooo awaaay…" he mumbled, rolling over and pulling the covers up a bit further. "I need sleeeeep…"

"Mel, you have to get up!" Matt said, a note of urgency in his voice. "You've _been_ sleeping! You slept for, like, sixteen hours or something!"

"Mmffg…whattimeisit?" Mello asked, still not fully comprehending what Matt was telling him.

Matt checked his watch quickly. "It's 8:54," he announced. "Get up!"

"Matt…mfgf…Idontcare…letmesleep…" Mello slurred into his pillow.

"Mello, we have about six minutes to get to the history exam!"

_That_ got Mello's attention.

"History exa…OH, FUCK!" Mello's brain instantly left 'sleep' mode and switched into 'turbo overdrive'. He jumped out of his bed, nearly landing on Matt, and dashed over to his desk. "Why didn't you wake me up earlier?!" he moaned as he grabbed his carrier bag and began jamming all the books and notes on his desk into it.

"To be honest, I overslept too," Matt admitted as he watched his friend. "Possibly because you smashed the alarm clock last week."

Mello would have thrown something at Matt if he wasn't so busy cramming things into his carrier bag. Instead, he settled with yelling "You could have bought a new one!" and pushing the last bunch of papers into his bag with unnecessary force.

All his preparation was wasted. Near would beat him again, and he would still be _second_ in everything. This was all Near's fault, Mello thought. He didn't know how, but somehow it all came back to Near. As he searched fruitlessly for his shoes, Mello tried to come up with a reason that this could be the albino boy's fault. Finally, a few seconds after Matt had informed him that he was already wearing his shoes, Mello forced himself to admit that Near wasn't to blame here.

"I hate that stupid fucking alarm clock," he said sourly as he followed Matt out the door.

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Mello's mood improved considerably when he and Matt arrived at their history classroom and discovered that they had managed to arrive just in time to avoid being late. He sat in his usual seat (the very last seat on the left-most row – as far away from Near as possible) and extracted a chocolate bar from one of the little outside pockets of his carrier bag. It wasn't a good idea, he had learned long ago, to take any test on an empty stomach. And even if he had a full stomach, it was still good to eat chocolate before a test. Chocolate made everything so much easier.

The teacher, a balding man in his forties called Mr. Dolle, cleared his throat loudly. Most of the chatter in the room died down quickly, save for a few conversations. When the room was finally silent, Mr. Dolle spoke.

"I hope all of you have studied for this exam," he said in a serious voice. "Whether you have or you haven't, you may take a few minutes to quickly look over your notes before the exam starts."

Mello snorted as most of the class immediately pulled their notes out and began studying frantically. He found it rather amusing that a class full of geniuses didn't know that studying things immediately before a test actually led to _worse_ performance.

Instead, Mello opened his bag and began searching for his class notebook. He'd fill up a few pages with doodles of chocolate bars to pass the time. His bag was a mess, since he'd just shoved everything carelessly into it, and so he had to thumb through everything inside item by item: a history textbook, a bundle of notes on the Napoleonic Wars, his math notebook, more history notes, Matt's_Pokémon__ Red_ strategy guide – how the hell had that gotten in there? – a copy of Macbeth, a lot more effing notes, a black notebook with silver lettering on the front –

It took a moment for Mello to recognize the black notebook. He pulled it out of his bag and examined it again – it was more interesting than doodling in his missing history notebook, anyway. Maybe he could ask Matt about it now.

"Matt," he whispered. Matt didn't appear to hear him; instead, he was occupied with some last-minute studying. "Maaattttt." No answer.

Mello ripped a page out of the notebook, balled it up, and lobbed it at the back of Matt's head. The gamer gave a slight twitch and turned around.

"What do you want?" he hissed, looking rather uncharacteristically annoyed at having been interrupted.

"Is this yours?" Mello asked, holding up the notebook so that Matt could see it.

"No, it's not," Matt whispered back. "I'm trying to study now, Mells. Can't you save throwing things at me for later?" He reached down, picked up the ball of paper, and tossed it back at Mello, who caught it in his hand. Then he turned back around. Mello stared absent-mindedly at the back of his friend's head.

So, if the notebook wasn't Matt's, whose was it? …More importantly, why the hell did Mello even care? It wasn't like someone was going to die if he didn't find out who it belonged to.

Eh, whoever owned it probably wouldn't mind if he doodled a little in it.

Mello reached into his carrier bag and fished a pen out of it. Then he opened the notebook up to a random page and went to place his pen on the paper.

Damn it, this page was _used_. Somebody had filled it up with rows of Japanese characters that Mello was too lazy to translate. He flipped to another page. More rows of Japanese stuff. The next few pages were like that, too. All written in neat little columns, like an accountant's book.

God, whoever wrote this had a bad case of OCD.

…Hang on, there was something in English. It wasn't written in a column like the rest of the stuff had been; instead, it had been scrawled diagonally across the entire page.

"_LIND L. TAYLOR"_

That name rang a bell in Mello's head. He had the nagging feeling that he'd heard it somewhere before.

"All right, put your notes away," said Mr. Dolle. "The exam will start as soon as I've finished handing out your test papers." He had a pile of blank exam packets in his arms, and he began passing them out after he spoke. Mello jammed the notebook back into his carrier bag, still wondering about that name.

_Lind L. Taylor._

Damnit, where the _hell_ had he heard that name before?

…_And why do I even give a fuck_? Mello thought as Mr. Dolle placed an exam on his desk. There were more important things to pay attention to, namely beating Near. He picked up his pen and began filling out the exam. As always, Mello was completely prepared, knowing every answer by heart. He always did.

All that Mello had ever wanted was to be the best at something, _anything_. As a small child, Mello was never first. His needs were always second to the wants of others. When he'd first come to Wammy's, he'd been so determined to make sure that everyone remembered him as _number one_, and nothing less.

And he'd tried so hard. But Near, without trying, always left him in second place. Mello hated Near so much. It wasn't enough that the bastard was next in line for L's spot – Near didn't even seem to _care_ about L. Mello remembered that night that the entire population of Wammy's had been gathered around the television in the rec room, watching what they thought was a live broadcast from Japan. He had been so scared for L as he heard the great detective challenge Kira, taunt him, invite him to take his life. And then he'd looked over and seen Near sitting on the floor, doing a fucking puzzle, as if nothing out of the ordinary were going on. It made him sick –

Mello actually twitched slightly, causing his pen to leave a jagged diagonal mark across the exam paper.

He had just remembered where he'd heard the name _Lind L. Taylor_ before.

Lind L. Taylor had been the man that pretended to be L. Kira had killed him on television the night that L had challenged the mass-murderer to try and kill him.

So this _did_ have something to do with Kira. Interesting. And since Matt had said he didn't own it, there were two possible explanations. The first was that Matt had lied to him; Mello immediately dismissed this as impossible, because he knew Matt well enough to know when the gamer was telling the truth and when he wasn't. The second was that someone else had intentionally placed the notebook in his room. This explanation raised other questions: was this intended as a prank? It was a really stupid one, if so. And if it wasn't a prank, then what was it?

Sometimes Mello wondered if he thought too much. It was just a stupid notebook, after all.

Still, he was curious now, and his curiosity temporarily over-rid the part of his mind that was trying to convince him to return to his exam. He wanted to have another look at that Japanese stuff in the notebook.

But, of course, Mello knew he couldn't just pull it out and start reading it in the middle of class; the teacher would assume that he was trying to cheat. He briefly considered asking to be excused to use the bathroom, but then an even better idea hit him.

Mello reached inside his desk and extracted the balled-up page that he'd thrown at Matt before. Smoothing it over on his knee, where nobody could see it, he read the neat, annoyingly organized series of Japanese characters. Mello wasn't exactly fluent in Japanese, but he could read it well enough to get by – after all, the number of manga comics that Matt kept scattered around their room made it rather difficult _not_ to pick up some bits and pieces of the language.

It took Mello a moment to mentally translate what was written, and even then there were parts he didn't understand, but all in all he could read enough of it to get an idea of what it said. It was odd, because it was just a list of names. No other information. Just _names_. As he looked down the page, Mello discovered a name that he recognized – carefully written near the bottom of the page, between _Hiroshi Maeue_ and a name that he couldn't read: _Dennis Rader_. He knew that name – Dennis Rader was an American serial killer whose case Mello had written a report on for his psychology class the previous year. What was more, Mello had seen on TV that Rader was believed to have been one of Kira's early victims. He looked up and stared absent-mindedly at Matt's hair as he ran this information through his head.

So, whoever had owned the notebook had been using it to record the names of people that Kira had killed. If Mello's reasoning was correct…Well, he'd have to wait until he could look closely at the notebook, but Mello was positive that all the other names would probably correspond to people that Kira had killed.

Which meant, of course, that this person had been following the Kira case very closely.

Mello was about to consider the possibilities that arose from this line of thinking when he heard Mr. Dolle's voice.

"Mello, please concentrate on your exam, and not on the back of Matt's head," Mr. Dolle said.

"Wuh?" Mello said, his eyes darting over to the teacher's desk. "Oh, right. Sorry." He looked down at his exam, deciding to take advantage of the fact that Mr. Dolle didn't know what he was actually doing. When Mr. Dolle had resumed grading papers, Mello quietly folded up the piece of paper in his lap and slid it into his pocket. He could figure this out later – Matt's computer would probably aid his investigation immeasurably.

Now, that test…

Mello found the jagged squiggle that marked where he'd left off before ("List the countries that made up the Second Coalition Against France from 1798 – 1801.") and resumed writing:

_Russia_

_Britain_

_Austria_

_Ottoman Empire_

_Portugal_

_Naples_

_Vatican_

"Ah…M-Mello…" Matt's voice whispered. A second later, the gamer reached back and shook Mello's desk slightly. "Mello!"

"Matt, not now," Mello whispered, not looking up. He didn't want to get kicked out of class, at least not before he finished his test. "Whatever it is, talk to me after class about it." Twirling his pen in his fingers, Mello read the next question on the exam ("List the countries that made up the Third Coalition Against France in 1805."). He thought for a moment, mentally bringing up the answers he'd memorized, and then began writing:

_Austria_

_Great Britain_

_Russia_

_Swe_

Mello never finished writing _Sweden_, because his desk gave a very sudden, very violent jerk. He growled and looked up.

Matt was leaning back in his chair, twisting around to face Mello. One hand was on the edge of the blond's desk, while the other was pointing towards the teacher's desk. He gave a quick glance towards that direction, then looked back at Mello and mouthed, 'Look!'

After staring at Matt for a moment, Mello turned his head slightly to look at the front of the classroom. Almost immediately, he turned so white that he momentarily resembled a blond Near. Mello opened his mouth, but all that came out was a sort of "eeee" sound.

Standing beside the teacher's desk was the strangest, ugliest thing he'd ever seen in his life. It was far taller than any human and had what seemed to be bandages covering almost all of its form. And, most disturbingly, the yellow, cat-like eye that wasn't obscured by bandages was focused directly on Mello. In addition, Mello suddenly realized, it seemed that he and Matt were the only people who were even _aware_ of this creature's presence. Even Mr. Dolle, who was just inches away from the thing, was calmly grading papers as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

The gears in Mello's brain started to work furiously as he tried to process what was going on. What _was_ this thing? Why was it staring at _him_? And why couldn't anyone _else_ see it? His head also cranked out another, rather stupid, question:

'_Why is today so full of fucking distractions?'_

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Well, there's chapter 2.

In other news, I need a beta-reader. If anyone's interested, feel free to volunteer.

Review, or I will hunt you down and take off your face with my hatredcopter.


	3. God of Death

_'What the fuck is that thing?'_

Mello stared at the creature beside the front desk, momentarily shutting out everything else as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing.

'_Could it be a hallucination?'_

No. Matt had seen it too. The odds of two people having the exact same hallucination at the exact same time were not even worth calculating. Besides, unlike in the movies, hallucinations were generally not that detailed.

'_Could it be a joke someone's playing on me?'_

No. Had someone been playing a prank, they would have chosen a far better place and time to carry it out. If it had been a prank, it was an incredibly stupid one – this creature was not scary; it was merely confusing.

'_Could it be some weird animal I've never heard of?'_

Mello didn't even bother to consider that one.

Suddenly, a very odd, very random idea entered his head: _What if this thing is somehow related to that notebook?_

It was a stupid idea, he knew, but when he reminded himself that there was an eight-foot-tall, bandage-wrapped creature standing in the back of the room (that only he and Matt could see), Mello had a feeling that he would have to think outside the box for a bit. And it did seem a little odd that this thing appeared almost at the same time as the mystery notebook…

He was just about to crank out a new set of strange possibilities using this template when Mr. Dolle's voice dragged him rather suddenly out of his reverie.

"Mello, what is so interesting about the back of my room that you and Matt seem prepared to stare at it 'till the end of the period?"

"Wah?" Mello said, jumping slightly in his seat. Most of the class was now looking at him and Matt. "I…we…er…bandage…chocolate…" he said, still half-focused on the creature that Mr. Dolle had just gotten up and walked straight through.

Mr. Dolle gave him a strange look. "That wasn't even a sentence, Mello," he said.

"S-sorry." Mello shook his head a bit to clear his mind. "I…I-I'm not feeling so well," Mr. Dolle," he said, desperate for some excuse to get out and go somewhere he could think. "I feel sick to my stomach…can I go to the infirmary for a bit? I promise I'll finish the exam when I get a chance."

"Mello," said Mr. Dolle, "did you not study for the exam?"

"Yes, I studied for the exam," Mello said, then sighed. "I studied for about four days! I haven't _slept _for four days!"

Matt, who had obviously picked up on Mello's plan by now, joined in. "It's true, sir," he said. "He made me stay up with him and study for three of those days. I told him that sleep deprivation's a bad thing, but he wouldn't listen." He turned to Mello. "Told ya you should've slept, Mells."

Mello sighed and placed his head on the desk. "I'd hit you in the nose if I wasn't so (yawn) tired, Matt," he said. "Feel like I'm gonna pass out…"

Mr. Dolle was apparently fooled by this act. He was one of the few teachers who, possibly because he was newer, did not understand Mello's and Matt's ability to communicate perfectly (and thus work as a pair when improvising things like this) without actually speaking.

"Fine," he said. "Matt, take Mello up to the infirmary. Mello, come see me when you're feeling better so you can finish your exam."

"Yes, sir," Mello said. He gathering up his carrier bag and slung it over his shoulder, taking care to appear as lethargic as possible. "I'll (yawn) come back as soon as I can…" As he got up, Mello glanced over towards the back of the room. The creature had disappeared.

"I might lie down too when we get there," Matt said as he led Mello to the door. "I was up pretty late myself."

As soon as the door clicked shut –

"Mel, you saw it too?"

Mello nodded. "Yeah," he said. They set off at a fast pace in the general direction of their room.

"What do you think it was?" Matt hissed. "It was looking at _you_, Mel!"

"Yeah, I saw. I dunno what it was, Matt. But we shouldn't talk about it out here; people'll think we've gone crazy. Just keep your mouth closed until we get back to our room, okay?"

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Less than a minute later, Matt was locking their door behind them as Mello walked over to the desk, holding his bag in one hand.

"Okay," Matt said as Mello threw his carrier bag down onto the desk and began pulling things out of it. "What are you doing?"

"In a minute," Mello said distractedly. "Oh, here's that Pokémon book I got you last year." He threw the strategy guide in Matt's direction, not actually looking to see if the gamer had caught it. A second later, he found what he was looking for. "This is related, somehow. I'm sure of it."

Matt peered over Mello's shoulder at the black notebook his friend had placed on the desk. "I've already seen that, Mel," he said. "It was on your desk this morning, and you showed it to me during – "

"I know, I know," Mello said impatiently. "But it's weird. One second I was studying, and then all of a sudden I turned around and it just _appeared_ on my desk. And there's names of people Kira's killed inside it."

"…So what does that have to do with a giant monster in our history class?" asked Matt.

"I don't _know_!" Mello said, pulling at his hair in frustration. "I just think they're related." He opened it to the first page. "See? 'The human whose name is written in this note shall die.' And it goes on to say that people die of heart attacks if you write their name in here. Isn't that how Kira kills? Heart attacks, I mean."

Matt stared at his friend. "…You don't seriously believe this voodoo bullshit, do you?" he asked, tempting fate by angering Mello.

Fortunately, Mello was too busy thinking to take offense. He pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket and bit into it. "If that creature does have something to do with this notebook, then that would explain why it appeared to me right after I found it."

"Correct," said a low, quiet voice directly behind Mello and Matt.

Mello jumped and spun around so fast that he nearly fell off his chair. Matt turned and put a hand absent-mindedly to his goggles, staring at the creature that was now only a few feet away from them.

It was a long time before either of them could say anything. Finally, Mello said, "So I was right…you are connected to the notebook…Does it actually work like it says it does?"

The creature nodded. "Yes, it does," it said.

It was Matt's turn to find his voice. "W-what are you?" he asked. "D-do you have a name?"

"I am a Shinigami," the creature said. "And I am called 'Rem'."

Mello bit down into his chocolate again. He wasn't the least bit scared – if the creature, the Shinigami, had planned on killing them, it wouldn't be standing around here answering their questions. So, he was eager to learn as much as he could.

"Shinigami, huh?" Mello said. "Matt, that means 'God of Death', right?"

Matt nodded slowly.

"So, Rem, you were the one who put the Death Note on my desk last night?"

"Yes," Rem said. "You were not able to see me at the time, because humans can only see a Shinigami if they have touched the Death Note owned by that Shinigami."

"Interesting," Mello breathed.

"But I never touched it," Matt interrupted. "Why can I see it?"

A memory played through Mello's mind. "I…I tore out a piece of paper from the notebook…the Death Note…and threw it at you during class," he said. "So technically, you _did_ touch it." He turned back to Rem, opening the notebook as he did. "Why did you give it to me?" he asked, scanning down the lists of names. "Why doesn't Kira still have it?"

"That does not concern you, Mihael Keehl," said Rem. "The point is that you have it."

"Fair enough," said Mello, Rem's answer confirming his suspicions that the notebook had once belonged to Kira. Then he did a sort of double-take, only without the take. "Wait, how the fucking hell did you know my real name?"

Rem looked over at Matt. "Shinigami eyes are able to see the name and lifespan of any human simply by looking at that human's face," she (Mello had decided firmly by this point that Rem was female) said. "Your friend's name is Mail Jeevas."

Matt turned white.

"_Mail Jeevas_?" Mello repeated. He began laughing. "That's the dumbest name I ever – "

"Shut up," Matt said quickly.

"So, basically, you can see the names of people just by looking at their faces?" Mello turned to Rem as he spoke. "Right, the notebook said you need to know their face and their name. I guess it means their real name, so being able to see that must come in handy." He eyed Rem's belt, hanging from which was what appeared to be a second Death Note. "You have your own."

"All Shinigami carry a Death Note of their own," said Rem. "It is also possible to obtain more than one if you are clever or lucky enough, which is why you are holding that one in your hands now."

Mello nodded. "One other question – why me?"

"I have already told you that you do not need to know that."

"No, I didn't mean it like that," said Mello. "I mean, why _me_? You don't have to tell me why Kira got rid of it, but I'd at least like to know why you picked me to give it to."

"I was told to give the Death Note to someone ambitious," said Rem, "and that is exactly what you are, Mihael Keehl."

Mello bit off a square of his chocolate. "You want me to use it."

"Yes."

'_Whoever told her to give it away probably is or was Kira,'_ Mello thought._ 'It's possible that he wants me to use it foolishly. The instruction to give it to someone ambitious would definitely lead to the Death Note being used for personal gain, which isn't what the first _or_ second Kiras did.' _He took a bite of his chocolate bar. _'It's clear that Kira isn't trying to find a new person to carry out judgments for him. It seems more like he's trying to find someone who will use the power selfishly, therefore making it easier to link the killings to that person – they'd probably use it on rivals, enemies, people with a connection to them. Which would, of course, lead to them getting caught. But why would Kira want the notebook to be found?'_

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door.

"Mello? Matt?" said a soft voice outside. "Please open this door, and do not try to pretend that you're not here. I've calculated that there's an 87 percent chance of the two of you being in this room."

_Near._

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Now, get ready for that Neariffic little dustbunny in white pajamas...

In other news...

I'm currently listening to "Jack the Ripper" by Motörhead.

It's a good song.

This chapter has exactly two thousand words. _Exactly_. Who would've thought?


	4. Killer's Remorse

'_All right, Mello, don't panic. Near can't see Rem and he doesn't know anything about the Death Note. But he was in class before. Near doesn't skip classes, so he must be here on a request from a teacher. That's it – Mr. Dolle probably wants him to make sure Matt and I actually went to the infirmary. Which means I'll get in trouble if Near reports back to Mr. Dolle and says that I'm not in the infirmary. He'll fail me on that test, and I'll be even further behind Near. I have to let the albino bastard in and talk my way out of this.'_

Mello placed the Death Note quietly onto his desk, kicked off his shoes, and slid into bed. Looking at Matt, he mouthed, 'We were asleep, let him in,' and then pulled the blanket up to his nose so that he could peer out over it.

Matt nodded, quietly removed his own shoes, and ran his hands through his hair to mess it up a little. As he passed his bed, he pulled the blanket back so it looked like he'd just gotten out. When he opened the door, he yawned widely. "Whaaat?" he whined to the white-haired, white-clothed boy who was standing placidly in the doorway.

"Mr. Dolle asked me to confirm that the two of you made it to the infirmary when you left class," said Near. One of his hands was up on his head, twirling a lock of white hair around his finger. "I believed it more likely that you had gone back to your room, and I see that I was correct."

Mello rolled over, trying to give the appearance that he had just awoken. "The infirmary door was locked," he mumbled. "And I got sick in one of the bathrooms."

"Yeah," Matt said. "I told him he should just go back to our room and sleep, and we'd try again later."

Near peered around Matt to look at Mello. He was completely oblivious to the fact that Rem was standing just a few feet away from the blond's bed. "You didn't seem sick when you came to class," Near said, still twirling his hair around his finger. "In fact, you didn't seem sick when you left, either."

"Fuck off!" Mello spat.

Instead of fucking off, however, Near stepped inside the room and walked over to Mello's bed (walking straight through Rem in the process). "You also don't look sick right now," he concluded after inspecting the blond boy.

"Well, I am," said Mello angrily. "I fuckin' threw up in the bathroom, too, if you wanna go swab the toilet for microscopic proof."

"I don't think that will be necessary," Near assured him. "Your story is that you and Matt went to the infirmary, discovered that the door was locked, and came back here, where you immediately went to sleep. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Mello said coldly.

"If you went right to sleep," said Near, "then why have the contents of your schoolbag been pulled out and thrown around the room?"

There was silence for a moment as Mello's eyes gravitated towards the desk, and the various things he'd tossed around while looking for the Death Note.

God damnit, this was _exactly_ what Mello hated about Near. The little fucker was always just one _fucking _step ahead of him, and he acted as if it took him no effort at all. No matter what Mello did, Near would _always_, without exception, manage to one-up him in some way or other.

And, invariably, it was small details like this, that Mello would often overlook whereas Near would not, which led to his downfall.

"It's clear that you're lying," Near said placidly. "You and Matt skipped class by pretending to be sick, and – "

Mello interrupted him, his temper boiling over. "Yeah, it's all about being _right_, isn't it, Near? You just have to take every _fucking_ opportunity to show how much _smarter_ you are than me, huh! I bet you fucking _volunteered_ to come look for us, didn't you? You just couldn't resist the opportunity to poke holes in everything I do, could you?! Right?!" Mello jumped out of bed, abandoning his previous act, and began searching the room. He needed a chocolate bar. Badly. "You probably just want to get me in trouble so I'll fail the test and you'll _still_ be number _fucking_ one, huh?! Is that it?! Well _fuck you_!"

Throughout Mello's rant, Near stood by Mello's bed, watching the blond, twirling his hair around one finger. Finally, when there came a sufficient pause in the chocoholic's increasingly incoherent ramblings, he spoke. "No, Mello. While it is true that I volunteered to come up here, you are mistaken in your belief that I did so because I wished to make you look inferior," he said.

It may have looked to Near like Mello was throwing a glance at Matt, but in truth he was looking at the Shinigami between them as he tore the paper off of a chocolate bar. Fucking Near…Stupid, arrogant, annoying, worthless _fucking_ Near. Mello bit off a square of chocolate and allowed it to melt on his tongue. It was just like that prick to stick his foot in the door when something as important as _this_ was going on. Near _had_ to have some ulterior motive for coming up here – he was usually completely indifferent towards what Mello and Matt did, or at least he appeared that way.

Mello bit off another square, making sure that it generated an audible _snap_. "I think you're lying," he concluded. "You'd never come up here just because you actually _cared_ about whether we were okay. You must have some other reason for volunteering to find us."

The response he got from Near was a noncommittal shrug. "I was curious," the albino boy admitted.

"Curious about _what_?"

Near tugged at the lock of hair that was wrapped around his finger. "Why you left class," he said.

Mello had to fight rather hard to resist the urge to hit Near. "We were feeling _sick_," he reminded the boy through very tightly gritted teeth.

"As I have already explained, I don't think that is the case," said Near. "Even if it were the case, Mello would still never leave class during such an important exam, regardless of how sick he might be."

"And…and h-how the fuck do you know that?!" Mello spluttered, spraying small bits of chocolate from his mouth.

Near stared into space, his face showing no emotion whatsoever. "Because Mello has come to class ill before, and has refused to leave even if the teacher requests it," he said. "Your rather obsessive goal of outdoing me invariably takes precedence over your own personal health."

Mello felt his face become hot. "Shut up!" he barked. "What the hell does that prove, anyway?"

"It doesn't prove anything," said Near. "But it does raise questions. I am curious as to what would be so important that you would leave in the middle of an exam for which you have been studying relentlessly for days now. I'm guessing it has something to do with your odd behavior during class today."

"Shut up," Mello repeated sharply. "This isn't a detective agency, you dildo. It's an orphanage. Stop trying to deduce the answer to everything. It's none of your business anyway!"

Near began twirling a new lock of hair around his finger. "This is an orphanage dedicated to raising and training the next generation of detectives who will succeed L," he said quietly. "Therefore, we are encouraged to think like detectives, Mello. However, it is clear that you often allow your emotions to control your – "

"_I know!_" Mello shouted, finally losing his temper. "I know! Stop acting like I'm fucking _stupid_, you prick! Just because you're L's favorite and I'm fucking second-rate! Fuck you! Get out of my room! OUT! GET THE FUCK OUT!" He grabbed the nearest object and threw it as hard as he could at Near, hitting the small boy directly in the forehead.

Near stumbled backwards and fell, looking startled. Mello felt a tingle of satisfaction run through his body. Until, of course, he realized _what_ he had hit Near with. A small black notebook with silver lettering on the cover lay beside the albino boy.

'_Aw, shit…_'

Mello felt as if someone was dripping ice water into his stomach. Near wasn't looking at him; instead, he was looking to Mello's left – right at Rem. He could _see_ Rem.

For the first time in years, Mello panicked.

Near would inevitably make the connection between touching the Death Note and being able to see Rem. And if he did that…He would be able to tell L about it, and L would probably be able to catch Kira thanks to the albino's information.

_Near would solve the Kira case_.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fucking fair. _Mello_ was the one who'd been given the notebook! Near just happened to walk in and stick his nose in it! And Near, being the bastard that he was, would take credit for everything and make Mello look like an incompetent loser.

And then there would be no doubt who would become L's successor.

It wasn't fair…

Mello barely felt the hot tears welling up in his eyes. By the time he acknowledged that he was on the verge of crying in front of Near, it was almost too late to choke it back down. He was certain that he'd never hated the younger boy more than he did now. He couldn't let Near get away with this. He couldn't.

"Get out of the way!" Mello hissed, pushing Near aside and grabbing the Death Note. He scrambled over to his desk and slammed the notebook down, letting it fall open to a blank page.

Vaguely, as if in a dream, Mello heard Matt's voice: "Mello, what are you doing?!"

Mello grabbed a pen out of the pencil holder on the corner of his desk and turned to Rem. "Tell me his name!" he ordered. He was disgusted to hear his voice crack as he spoke.

Rem looked at Near, and then turned back to Mello.

"Nate River," she said simply.

Mello glanced at Near as well. Then he placed his pen on the paper and began writing frantically. He heard Matt's protests behind him and the sound of Near standing up, but the only noise he really paid attention to was the abnormally loud (at least to him) scratches of his pen as he wrote.

_**Nate Riv**_

He had just started on the _**e**_ when the enormity of what he was doing actually caught up to him. He was about to _kill_ another human being. Granted, it was Near, but…

_How would killing Near be any different from what Kira does?_

Wasn't L, the man who had taught Mello about justice, risking his life to _stop_ the man who had used this notebook to kill so many people? If Mello used it himself, wouldn't that make him exactly like the man whom L was trying to catch?

If Mello used the Death Note and then claimed he was against Kira, that would make him a hypocritical liar, wouldn't it?

Slowly, Mello lifted the pen off of the paper and turned around to look at Near. Near had arranged himself into that odd sitting position of his and was twirling his hair as he watched Mello. Behind him, Matt looked absolutely horrified.

"You…you…" whispered Matt.

"I didn't kill him," Mello mumbled. "I didn't finish writing the name."

Matt relaxed visibly and sat down on the end of the bed.

"What is that creature?" Near asked calmly. He was looking at Rem.

Mello didn't answer Near's question. Instead, he grabbed the small albino boy by the collar of his pajamas and slammed him against the wall.

"If you tell anyone about this, I swear I _will_ kill you," he snarled. "Got it?"

Near reached up and twirled his hair as if nothing out of the ordinary were going on. Then, to Mello's surprise: "Yes."

When the shock of having Near actually give in to one of his threats had worn off, Mello released the younger boy and let him slide back down the wall, where he resumed his strange sitting position. The blond walked over to the desk and began searching it for a chocolate bar.

"Now," Near said, "please answer my – "

"It's a fucking Shinigami," Mello interrupted, not looking at Near. He knew he'd have to tell the albino boy everything anyway. Might as well get it over with. "Actually, it's a she. Her name's Rem." He pulled a Hershey's bar out of one of the drawers in the desk and unwrapped it. "She gave me this fucking notebook, it's called the Death Note. You write a person's name in it, and they die of a heart attack." Mello bit into the candy bar and sat down on his swivel chair. He realized that he was shaking from head to toe, which he guessed had something to do with adrenaline.

"Interesting," said Near, though his facial expression didn't make him look very interested at all. "Am I correct in my belief that you just now began to write my name in the Death Note?"

Mello's response was a long string of Slovenian swear words. He slammed his chocolate bar onto the desk and closed the Death Note. "Don't piss me off," he growled.

Near, looking as impassive as ever, shrugged. "All right. Do you know why you were given the notebook, then?"

"Rem said she was told to give it to someone ambitious," Mello said. "I suppose I'm ambitious. I think the original owner was Kira," he added quickly. "It all fits. The heart attacks, the need for a name and face, everything."

"That makes sense," Near said. "It would also explain how the Second Kira was able to kill with only a face."

Mello was confused. "What do you mean?" he asked, leaning forward slightly in his chair. "How?"

Near looked at Rem, who was still watching them silently, then back at Mello. "When you went to write my name in the Death Note, the Shinigami gave you my real name. I can only conclude that this creature is somehow able to see a person's name simply by looking at them. It is possible that the Second Kira was using the Shinigami to find out the names of people they needed to kill. I'm sure you remember the incident outside of the Sakura TV building a few months ago?"

"Yeah," Mello breathed. "I…I never even thought of that…"

"I think it's clear that this Death Note is an important piece of evidence in the Kira case," Near continued. "Therefore, I think it's important that we decide what to do with it quickly."

Mello stiffened. "Wait a second…'We?' The only 'we' is me – " He pointed at himself – "and Matt." He pointed at the red-haired gamer. "You're not involved, Near."

"It seems I'm involved whether you want it or not, Mello," Near said softly. "I was involved the moment you decided to hit me with the notebook." He began twirling his hair again. "You can either fight with me over it, which will get us nowhere, or you can accept it and we can move on to more important matters."

Mello stared at Near in silence for a while, fidgeting with his shirt. Then he let out a low moan of anger and punched the desk. "I really, really _hate_ you," he informed the albino boy sourly.

"I am aware of that, Mello," said Near.

"I just thought I'd remind you." Mello took a bite of his chocolate bar, forgetting that he wasn't holding a chocolate bar, and instead bit down painfully on two of his fingers. "Ow! Fuck!"

Matt had been silent throughout the exchange, quietly observing Mello and Near. He'd noticed that the two seemed to work well together, at least in the short spaces of time when they weren't fighting relentlessly with each other. Or, rather, when Mello wasn't biting at everything Near said, and Near wasn't passive-aggressively goading Mello into losing his temper.

Those were rare times indeed.

Rem, too, had been watching in silence. Ryuk was right, she decided: humans were strange creatures.

**xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

I apologize for any errors, mistakes, and/or OOC-ness in the preceding chapter. I haven't been able to contact anyone for beta-reading, and the person who's been doing it up until now has mysteriously disappeared. I went over it a bunch of times before posting it, though, so it should all be good.

Read, review, blah blah...whatever. I'll have the next chapter up someday.


	5. Memories

_Mail Jeevas was born on February 1st__, 1990, somewhere in the United States. That was really all he knew about himself._

_His mother, Cecilia Jeevas, died shortly after giving birth to him. The father was never identified, and Cecilia had no known relatives, so Mail was placed in the foster care system. He was diagnosed with attention deficit disorder when he was only three, and shifted from home to home because he was such a difficult child to handle. It wasn't that he was violent or destructive – it was more that he didn't care about anything. Even at a very young age, Mail's only interests were computers (he'd learned to write computer code at age four), and video games (stunned foster parents found that Mail had stolen and completed every video game in their older son's room at the age of three-and-a-half). _

_Mail could concentrate on things – only they had to be interesting. School was boring, so Mail rarely did his work. His teachers and even his foster parents thought he was an idiot. Not that he actually cared._

_--_

_One day when Mail was six, his first grade class was given a 'special' test. He was promised a new game if he did the entire thing – so he did. It was supposed to be extremely difficult, but Mail thought it was rather easy. In fact, part of the test dealt with computer code, which was actually fun._

_About two weeks later, an old man came to see Mail and his foster family. He called himself 'W'._

"_I am here about Mail's score on a recent test that was given at his elementary school," W said._

_Mr. and Mrs. Leech, Mail's foster parents, looked at the boy on the couch between them. Mail was busy playing his Game Boy and didn't seem to be paying attention at all._

"_We're sorry," Mr. Leech said. "We try to get Mail to do his work, but he just doesn't. He's going to end up failing school at this rate." He looked over at Mail, who still appeared oblivious to everything around him. "He'll end up living under a bridge with no job, no money, and…"_

_The old man chuckled. "Mail completed the exam, actually," he said. "He got a perfect score."_

_Mail's Game Boy made a loud 'booooop' sound._

"_He…what?" Mrs. Leech said, her mouth hanging open. "That's not possible…Mail's…" She searched for a word to describe what Mail was. "…dumb…" she finally whispered._

_While Mrs. Leech was looking at the old man, Mail paused his game and made a face at her. W saw this and laughed a little._

"_He must have cheated," Mr. Leech concluded. He grabbed Mail by the shoulder of his shirt and turned the redhead around to face him. "Mail, did you cheat on that test?"_

"_No," Mail said uninterestedly. "I don't cheat on anything, ever." He turned back around and continued to play his game._

"_We're sorry," Mr. Leech repeated. "He obviously cheated. Mail, you're grounded for two weeks."_

_Mail shrugged, still not looking up._

"_Actually, it's not possible to cheat on this test," said W. "There is no list of answers besides the ones that R and I have. What's more, it's not possible for a child to do this test without actually understanding the material, even if they were cheating in some way." He turned to Mail. "I was especially intrigued by the computer codes that you used as examples on questions nine hundred and fifteen through one thousand and three. Where did you learn those?"_

"_I wrote them myself," Mail mumbled as he pounded the buttons on his Game Boy. "They weren't that hard."_

_Mr. and Mrs. Leech both had expressions of confusion on their faces._

"_Wait," said Mrs. Leech. "Mail, you write computer code?"_

_Once again, Mail didn't even look up. "Yes," he said. "You might have noticed if you actually paid attention to what I do once in a while."_

_Before Mr. Leech could chastise him for being rude, W spoke. "Mr. and Mrs. Leech, I'm a representative of a group that cares for children like Mail."_

"_You want to adopt him," Mrs. Leech said._

_W nodded. "Yes, that is correct."_

"_Well, the answer is no," said Mr. Leech. "Mail stays with us."_

"_Mail, where would you like to live?" W asked kindly._

_Mail shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me, I guess," he mumbled._

"_He's staying," said Mrs. Leech in a cold voice. "Get out."_

_W sighed and extracted a file folder from the briefcase beside him. "I was hoping it wouldn't come to this," he said. "These are transcripts of phone conversations which prove that you are only caring for Mail because you receive payment from the government." W placed another set of papers on top of the file folder. "These are reports from schoolteachers stating that Mail often comes to school without anything to eat." He showed them a third stack of papers. "This is a signed statement from the nurse at the school Mail attends. She says that Mail told her you once refused to give him his ADD medication for three weeks as a punishment for knocking over a vase..."_

_It didn't take long for the Leeches to agree to give custody of Mail to W's group, a series of orphanages known as 'Wammy Houses'. The first thing that W did once Mail was with him was take the gamer out for ice cream. He told Mail that his name was 'Watari' (Mail thought it was a strange name), and that the orphanage he wanted to take him to was in England._

_Mail had never been to England. It sounded interesting._

_--_

_Watari offered to buy Mail a present before they got on the plane, so Mail dragged him to just about every game store in town, trying to find a good game to buy. The old man, it seemed, was used to this kind of behavior from children, and he didn't complain the entire time._

"_I can't find a good one," Mail whined as they entered the fifteenth game store. "Gah…"_

"_May I make a suggestion?" asked Watari._

_Mail shrugged. "If you want."_

"_Why don't you see if there's anything besides a video game that you want?"_

_This made Mail think. Strange as it might sound, it actually had not occurred to him that he could buy something other than a video game. "I guess I can look," he said, and scurried off towards the equipment section._

_But after about fifteen minutes of looking around, Mail still hadn't found anything good. He was just about to give up entirely when he spotted something._

_Hanging from a hook on the wall underneath a Duke Nukem promo poster were a few pairs of goggles with colored lenses. One of those novelty-type products. Shrugging, Mail took a pair off the hanger and put them on, using the small mirror beside the hanger to inspect his appearance._

_Nah, yellow wasn't really his color. Maybe if he had green hair…_

_Mail put the goggles back and tried a new pair._

_This was better._

_A moment later, Mail was jumping up and down in front of Watari, a pair of reddish-orange goggles in his hand._

_--_

_The next day, Watari took Mail on a plane – a private jet, no less – to England. Mail, having never been on a plane before, discovered that he enjoyed flying quite a bit. It was similar to the feeling he got when he played a really good video game. About halfway through the flight, Watari informed Mail that he must choose a nickname to use while he was at Wammy's._

"_Why?" Mail asked as his over-sized new goggles once again fell down around his neck._

"_It is for your own safety," Watari said._

"_So nobody can find me?"_

_Watari nodded. "Precisely," he said. "You may choose any name you like, provided that it isn't vulgar or offensive."_

_Mail shrugged. "I dunno…" he said. "I can't really think of any…can it just been a normal name, or does it have to be a code name like 'Goggle-Man' or something?"_

"_It can be any name you want," said Watari._

"_Oh…I guess I'll be…Matt…or something…"_

_Watari looked curious. "Why that name?" he asked._

"_There's nothing special about it," Mail said. "I figure if I'm going to use a pseudonym, it should be something ordinary, so that I don't draw attention to myself."_

"_You're a smart one, Matt," said Watari, a small smile touching the corners of his mouth._

_--_

_The head of Wammy's House, Roger, was a rather unpleasant old man. Mail – well, actually he was Matt now – had to wonder why Roger had ever wanted to run the orphanage, as he seemed to hate children._

_Matt's roommate was even stranger. When Matt arrived at his new room, he found a boy about his age sitting on the bed nearest the window. The kid had short blond hair and blue eyes. He was munching on a candy bar when Matt entered._

"_Hi," Matt said uncertainly as he put his single suitcase in the corner of the room and plonked down on the unoccupied bed. "What's your name? I'm Matt."_

_The blond bit off a square of his chocolate bar and eyed Matt with what seemed to be a mixture of loathing and distrust. "Mello," he said after a moment. Then he drew an invisible line across the middle of the room with his finger. "Don't cross it."_

_Matt shrugged and pulled out his Game Boy. He slid 'Legend of Zelda' into the slot and turned it on. He'd beaten this game many times already, but he still liked to play it._

"_That's annoying."_

"_Huh?" Matt looked at Mello, who was glaring at him._

"_That music. It's annoying. Turn it off."_

_Matt lowered the game's volume. "Sorry," he mumbled._

"Matt."

"_Good," said Mello, snapping off a row of chocolate squares._

"Matt!"

_Matt wondered if Mello was new at Wammy's as well. That might explain why he was acting so –_

"MATT!"

"Wah?!" Matt was jarred out of his reminiscing by Mello's voice. "Wh-what is it, Mells?"

Mello picked up a book and threw it at Matt, who dodged it.

"I HAVE BEEN TALKING TO YOU FOR ABOUT EIGHT MINUTES NOW!" Mello yelled. "You fucking zoned out again!"

"Sorry," Matt said, hiding behind his bed in case Mello decided to lob anything else his way. "What were you saying?"

Growling, Mello stood up and began to pace around in circles. "I was saying that we should use the Death Note to kill Kira."

"Oh," said Matt. "But we don't know who he is, though…"

"Mello seems to believe that some information on the Kira case may have been copied onto the Wammy's mainframe by Watari," said Near. Near was sitting in one corner of the room, playing with some action figures that looked suspiciously like L and some of the Wammy's kids. "However, Mello cannot be sure, because he isn't a computer expert."

"Shut up," Mello growled. He turned to Matt. "Matt...do you think you could hack into the Wammy's mainframe and see if there's anything in there that we could use to find out Kira's real name?"

Matt shrugged. "I don't have to hack it," he said. "I know Roger's password."

"How the hell do you...never mind. Just do it…"

"Yes, oh Great Count Chocula." Matt sniggered and dodged Mello's shoe. When he was sure that the blond wasn't going to throw any more objects at him, he walked over to his own desk, on the opposite side of the room from Mello's, and switched on the computer that took up most of the space.

As the computer booted up, Matt stared distractedly at the screen. In it, he saw the reflection of Rem, who was now watching him. It was uncomfortable, having that cat-like yellow eye fixed on him…

The log-in screen appeared. Instead of typing in his own Wammy's username ('Mattgamer3'), Matt typed in Roger's username ('Phasmatodea') and the password ('Quillish').

"Find anything yet?" Mello asked impatiently.

Matt let the desktop load and then opened a search window. "Easy does it, Mells. I'm looking."

"Look faster," Mello grumbled.

The gamer typed in 'Kira' in the box reading 'A word or phrase in the file', and set the search parameters to include everything on Roger's account. "You know," he said as the computer began its search, "last time I was on Roger's username, there was this really weird hidden folder that I found buried in a folder full of a bunch of financial stuff."

Mello looked hopeful. "Was it about Kira?" he asked quickly.

"Nope," Matt said, shaking his head. "It's still strange, though. Roger's collected what looks like every picture of Watari that's ever been taken."

"How many is _every_?" Mello asked.

Matt counted on his fingers for a moment. "...Several thousand," he said. "And there were several other folders inside it that looked like they had more stuff in them."

Mello looked annoyed. "That's not normal," he concluded.

"I agree," said Near.

"Yeah, and some of those pictures weren't really normal either," Matt said as a small _ding_ announced that the search was completed. He scrolled down the list of results. Mello came over and leaned over Matt's shoulder.

"Anything?" asked the blond.

"I'm looking, Mel, I'm looking," said Matt. "I can't find anything that looks like it would have Kira's real name, but there's a load of news articles and stuff in one of the folders."

"What kind of news articles?"

Matt opened one of the aforementioned news articles and skimmed over it. "I think Roger's been collecting stuff on his own. Stuff that relates to the Kira case," he said. "But it doesn't look like there's anything that came from Watari's computer."

Mello groaned and flopped down on Matt's bed. "Shiiit…"

"I told you, Mello, that there was less than a five percent chance of finding anything useful on Roger's account," Near said from his corner. "Roger, after all, is not actively involved in the Kira investigation, nor is he in regular contact with L."

"Shove it, Near," said Mello.

Ignoring the two, Matt opened another file and read down it. It was an image, seemingly from a newspaper article, of a page with Japanese writing on it. As he read it, a word caught his eye.

"Hey, you guys," he said loudly. "I found something."

In less time than it took to breathe, Mello was peering over the gamer's shoulder. A moment later, Near appeared next to Matt's chair as well.

"What the hell is this?" Mello looked annoyed as he skimmed over the image on the computer screen. "Some fag's diary entry?"

"Yes," Matt said. He pointed at one of the entries. "_Twenty-second of May…at Aoyama, we looked at each others' notebooks_." His finger moved to the entry for May 30th. "_Confirmed that there was a Death God present at the Giants' match in the Tokyo Dome._"

Mello's mouth dropped open, almost comically. "Kira was at the Giants' game!" he exclaimed. "Matt, could you get a list of people who bought tickets to that game?"

"I dunno," Matt said. "I'll look, though."

"Good," said Mello. He began pacing around the room in small circles. "There's a chance that Kira's name might be on that list, if he was present."

Near began twirling his hair. "There are two problems with your idea, Mello," he said quietly.

Mello spun around and glared at the albino. "What, then?" he spat.

"First of all, even if you were able to obtain a list of people who attended the Giants game," said Near calmly, "you still wouldn't be able to identify which one is Kira." He knelt down next to Matt's chair and began playing with his action figures again. "There is a far graver error in your calculations, however."

"Which is _what_, exactly?" Mello snarled.

"Kira was not at the Giants game at all," Near informed the seething blond.

"He…What the fuck are you talking about?"

Near sighed. "The game was cancelled because that diary was shown to the public. I know this because several of the residents here were looking forward to the game, and were quite angry when it was cancelled."

"Yeah, he's right, Mells," Matt said, leaning to the side so that Mello could see what the gamer's Google search had yielded. "It was cancelled after that diary was broadcast."

Mello made a growling noise and stomped over to a half-finished chocolate bar that was sitting on his desk. "A lot of help that was," he said sourly as he shoved the candy into his mouth with unnecessary force.

"Actually, this diary does provide a clue as to Kira's whereabouts," said Near quietly. "_Twenty-second of May…at Aoyama, we looked at each others' notebooks_. Mello, even you couldn't be oblivious to the meaning of this for long."

"Fuck you," Mello spat. "I'm not stupid."

"No," Near agreed, placing the Mello action figure opposite the Near one. "You simply focus too hard on a single idea or theory, and consequently you fail to notice other details that may be of importance."

"Oh, like you're any better," Mello retorted. "You have the social skills of a retarded chimpanzee!"

Near wound a piece of hair around his finger. "Actually, chimpanzees are known to be very social creatures," he said.

Mello made a loud "Rrrgh" noise, and jammed the rest of his Hershey's bar into his mouth. "Fimilbewthamatewwunanway," he said through the mass of chocolate.

"What did you say?" Matt asked.

The blond swallowed. "I said I'll be the mature one and walk away!" he shouted.

"That's good," Near said. "Now, I think we should focus on what to do with the Death Note. We have no information as to the identity of Kira. Unless you're planning on becoming the third incarnation of Kira, Mello, there's not much you can do with the notebook yourself. I think we should – "

"I don't care what you think," Mello announced. "You probably just want to take it and claim credit for finding it." He put a hand on the notebook. "I'm holding onto it."

Near gave what was apparently his version of a shrug. "I wasn't going to suggest taking it, Mello," he said. "I was going to suggest that the best course of action would be to give the notebook to L."

Though no one but Matt saw it, Rem's yellow eye narrowed slightly.

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Ya, well...Here's chapter five.

Thanks to NoWaitAuthor for beta-reading it for me.

Review, or I'll use my powers to induce mass hypnosis on all those who have read but not reviewed. Then you will review me for all eternity!


	6. Plans and Tactics

"We can't go to Roger, obviously."

"No shit, dumbass. You said it before – he doesn't even know where L is. Not to mention the fact that he's a total idiot."

"I wouldn't go so far as to call him an idiot, but I agree that Roger is rather dull when compared to most of his charges."

Mello tore the wrapper off of yet another chocolate bar, his eighth one in the past half hour or so. The blond only did this when he was particularly anxious – in a sense, it could be considered Mello's equivalent of chain-smoking.

"I think we should just bring it to him ourselves," he proclaimed suddenly.

Matt gave Mello an incredulous look. "None of us are even old enough to _drive_, Mells," he said. "There's no way they'd even take us seriously, even if we found them. We're still kids, remember?"

"Yes, we're kids who were trained to become the next generation of superdetectives," Mello clarified. He bit off three squares at once from his candy bar. "We're smart enough to get around anything."

Near, who was playing with his action figures, placed the Mello, Near, and Matt figures in a group by themselves, facing off against the Kira and Second Kira action figures. "I agree with Mello," he said quietly. "L may be in grave danger if he is close to Kira right now. It is essentially a race between us and Kira to determine the ultimate fate of L." He placed the L figure between the two groups. "Therefore, the longer we wait, the less chance there is that L will survive. Also," he added, gesturing at the Death Note, "I believe it would be quite foolish to entrust the notebook to others, as there is a chance they may attempt to use it themselves."

"That's all obvious, Near!" Mello snarled. "And yeah, it's staying with _me_!" He held up the Death Note with one hand to make a point, his other hand clutching his chocolate bar.

"How are we going to get to L?" asked Matt. "Come to think of it, how are we even going to _find_ him?"

Mello waved a hand dismissively. "We'll take a plane," he said. "As for finding L, we'll do it somehow."

"Your plan leaves a great deal to be desired, Mello," Near chimed in.

"Shut up," the blond said.

"I'm sorry, Mihael, but I can't let you take that Death Note to L."

For a moment, Mello had forgotten that Rem was even in the room – she had been so silent. So, naturally, he jumped about a foot when he heard her low voice.

"Wah-what?" he blurted out as he whirled around to face the Shinigami. "What are you talking about?"

"If you attempt to bring the Death Note to L, I will kill you," Rem stated bluntly.

All of the color drained from Mello's face. He mindlessly raised his chocolate bar to his mouth and bit off a piece, which helped him calm down considerably. After a moment, the briefly-stalled gears in his brain began to work furiously again.

Rem didn't want L to get the Death Note. That probably meant that Rem was trying to prevent Kira from being caught. But, it seemed, Rem most likely didn't even know the details or even the goal of Kira's plan herself. The ultimate goal was obviously to have the Death Note fall into L's hands, though Mello couldn't understand why (yet…but he was sure he could figure it out, given time). But, regardless, Rem seemed to have been forced, or even tricked, into helping Kira. Mello thought it was probably the former; Rem may not have been as sharp as he was, but she obviously wasn't dumb, either. Then, he wondered, what the hell could have been used as leverage to force a creature – a god of death, no less – to bend to the will of a cowardly mass-murderer?

There was only one way to find out.

"Rem," Mello said, sitting down on his bed, "why are you on Kira's side?" He chose his words carefully, making sure to sound as innocent as possible when he said them.

"I do not take sides," said Rem. "It is not important to me whether Kira lives or dies."

Mello bit off a square of his chocolate bar and let it melt on his tongue. "Then why don't you want him to get caught?" he asked, once again trying to sound as naïve as he could.

"It does not matter to me whether Kira is caught, Mihael."

That was what Mello had been hoping for. He was certain he understood it now – if he were L, he would have said he was about 96 percent certain. But he was Mello, so he was just certain.

Rem was protecting the Second Kira, for whatever reason.

If Rem wanted him to use the notebook, to keep it away from L, then chances were that Kira had intended to use this plan to clear either himself or the Second Kira – or, possibly, both. And Rem didn't know that that was the plan.

"Rem," Mello said carefully, "I think that bringing the Death Note to L would be in the best interests of the Second Kira."

Rem looked surprised. Matt looked shocked. Near looked indifferent.

"And…why would you think that, Mihael Keehl?" Rem asked, sounding wary.

Mello snapped off a square from his chocolate bar dramatically. "Kira obviously wants the notebook to be found," he said. "I think something in it is intended to prove his innocence, and most likely that of the Second Kira, too."

"How did you come to that conclusion, Mello?" murmured Near.

"Rem told me that she was given instructions to pass on the Death Note to somebody with a lot of ambition, remember?" Mello said, trying to hide his glee at the fact that Near was actually asking _him_ to explain something to him. "It's obvious that he wants it to be used in a way that will lead to the user being caught by L. Which means that Kira wants L to get the Death Note." He looked over at Rem. "I'm right, and you know it," he said bluntly. "I know you're doing this to protect the Second Kira, whoever they are."

Rem had an expression of mild surprise on her face. Mello wondered briefly if she was going to suddenly pull out her own Death Note and kill him. But after a moment, Rem moved closer to Mello, until her face was about an inch from hers.

"What are you suggesting, Mihael Keehl?" she asked.

Mello forced himself to appear undaunted. "I think," he said, "that it would be in the interests of both of us if I gave the Death Note to L. I don't want to use it; I'm not that kind of person."

"It's like…cheating…" Matt mumbled.

"Exactly!" Mello exclaimed. "I love to win, but only if the playing's fair. But the point is, I don't want to use it, and I suppose you'd kill me if I said I wanted to give it back."

"No," Rem said. "The person who gives up possession of the Death Note will lose all memories of its existence. You would simply forget that you ever found it."

"Oh," said Mello.

"However," Rem continued, "if you were to give up possession of the Death Note, I would have to kill your friends." She moved her eyes over towards Matt and Near. "They have seen it as well."

"First of all," Mello said, "Near's not my friend. Second of all, I don't want to give the notebook away. Third, if I give L the notebook, it'll help clear the Second Kira. That's what you want, right?"

"…It may be," Rem conceded. She was silent for a moment, and then she spoke again. "I will let you bring the Death Note to L. But," she added dangerously, "if I feel that you are a risk, I will kill all three of you and take the notebook to another person."

Mello, unable to come up with a response, simply jammed his chocolate bar into his mouth and bit off a piece. He didn't care if Near died, honestly. And he and Matt weren't stupid enough to get themselves killed.

Besides, it wasn't like they had a choice. If Mello used the Death Note to kill people, as Kira had intended, that would make him both a tool and a mass-murderer. If he gave it back to Rem, Matt and Near would die. Mello didn't want Matt to die. So, again, bringing the Death Note to L was the best option.

"So, then…" Mello said after a while. "I guess I'm bringing it to L…Matt…"

"Yeah," Matt said, anticipating the question before it was asked. "I'm helping, Mel."

Mello nodded his head, forcing himself not to smile. This was one of those times that he was reminded why Matt was such a good friend – he'd do anything for you, no matter how dangerous or weird. That, and the fact that he'd stick by you to the bitter –

"I feel that I am obligated to join you," Near said, interrupting Mello's thoughts. Mello twitched as his brain redirected energy from trying to hide a smile to trying not to run over and strangle Near. Before he could say anything on the matter, however, the albino boy continued. "It would also be beneficial for you, Mello," he said.

"How the hell could you being anywhere near me make my life better?" snapped Mello.

Near's face remained, as always, infuriatingly impassive. "I am aware that you believe I would attempt to sabotage what you see as your chance to finally outdo me," he said. "There is a 79 percent chance that you would become extremely nervous if you did not know what I was doing, and your ability to think would suffer accordingly. It is possible that you might do something rash that would lead to the Death Note being used or falling into the hands of another person."

Mello growled. "_Fuck_ you," he spat. "I'm not a fucking moron, Near. I can control myself." He knew this was something of a lie, because even Mello was aware that his emotions got the best of him at times. And, come to think of it, he _would_ be far less nervous if he knew Near wasn't telling everyone at Wammy's about Mello having Kira's power or anything like that…

"Fine," he conceded, giving Near a look that would probably have caused grown men to burst into tears. "But if you fuck up anything, Near, I'll take a knife and chop off your - "

"That's all well and good," Matt interrupted, "but I thought we had no idea where L is. So it's going to be kinda hard to bring it – the notebook, I mean – to him at all."

"We know he's in Japan," said Mello matter-of-factly. "We'll go to Japan and then find his exact location." He rapped on the side of his head with his knuckles. "Helloooo? We're fucking _genius_ kids here. _L's successors_. Well, I'll be, anyway. But the point is, we've got a combined IQ of around, like, six hundred, or something. There's no way we _wouldn't_ be able to find L."

"As I have said before," Near murmured, "Mello's plan is very rash and only has a thirty to forty percent chance of succeeding. It would be much more advisable to carefully think this through and develop a plan that has a higher chance of - "

"I don't care," Mello announced. "I don't care. You said it yourself, asshole – L's survival could depend on our bringing this thing to him." He held up the Death Note. "Sometimes you can't just _wait_ for things. If L _waited_ all the time, he'd never get cases done. Sometimes you just have to fucking _do it_."

Near gave a little bow of his head. "If L rushed headfirst into everything, Mello, he would most likely have been killed long ago. It is extremely foolish to simply assume that you will be able to make everything up as you go, without even bothering to formulate a plan beforehand. Needless to say, L is alive today because he takes the time to plan ahead instead of just diving in unprepared."

"But he thinks on his feet a lot of the time, which is what I was trying to point out!" said Mello. "It's easy for _you_ to talk about formulating plans and stuff, because _you_ have all the time in the world while you're playing with your stupid Legos and all that crap!"

"L may improvise plans when necessary, but he prefers to plan ahead because he likes to be prepared," Near said as he twirled a bit of hair around his finger. "You, on the other hand, cannot stand the thought of being inactive for even the shortest time - "

"You don't know how my fucking mind works!" Mello screamed. "Yeah, fine, fuck you! I can't plan ahead! But at least I'm not afraid to take _chances_, Near! That's about half of L's fucking job, taking chances! That's why you'll never - "

"I have an idea…"

Mello stopped and glanced at Matt, who had a rather bored look on his face.

"…Yeah, what?"

Matt shrugged. "Why don't you guys just compromise? Like, we'll go find L, but we'll take a day or whatever to do as much research as we can so that we at least have a general idea of where he could be. That way we'll still be doing something, but we won't be completely unprepared."

Mello opened his mouth to argue, and then closed it. It wasn't a bad idea, after all – and it had come from Matt, which made it a lot more agreeable than if it had come from Near. "One day?" he said thoughtfully. "One. Uno. Fucking _one_. Fourth song on Metallica's '…_And Justice For All'_." He glared at Near. "Fine. One day. We'll spend the rest of today figuring out where the fuck L might be. Then, tomorrow, whether we've found him or not, we're going. Do you understand?"

"That is…reasonable," Near said, once again twirling his hair. "We could probably use Roger's collection of articles to look for hints that others would not have picked up on. Also, we would need to find some way of purchasing plane tickets and food. I have nothing of value, and I am sure that neither do - "

"Roger keeps a safe behind his desk," Mello said. "I'll take care of the money problem."

Near looked mildly offended, though not at all surprised. "You're going to steal money? That's criminal, Mello. It's - "

"Shut up," said Mello. "Just…shut up..."

Mello thought that Near was going to say something back, but the albino boy resumed playing with his toys after a moment. He finished his chocolate bar and threw the wrapper in the trash can next to Rem. As he pulled a new bar out of his desk, an idea struck him.

"Hey Rem…you like chocolate?"

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Yay! Finally updated! I've been really busy lately writing stuff for my band's demo, but I'll have a lot more time soon.

Thanks to NoWaitAuthor for beta-reading.


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